5. Joel Osteen-Net Worth= $40 million"Joel Osteen was born in Texas and has an estimated net worth of $40 million dollars. A pastor, author, and televangelist, Joel Osteen is the pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. He took over his father's role as a pastor and televangelist, despite having very little formal religious training, in 1999. Since then, the Lakewood Church broadcast has grown exponentially and can be seen in 100 different countries."
4. Benny Hinn- Net Worth= $42 million
"Israeli televangelist,Toufik Benedictus “Benny” Hinn has an estimated net worth of $42 million. He is best known for his regular “Miracle Crusades” – revival meeting/faith healing summits that are usually held in large stadiums in major cities, which are later broadcast worldwide on his television program, “This Is Your Day”. Hinn was born on December 3, 1952."
3. Chris Oyakhilome- Net Worth= $70 million"This is the man behind Believers’ Loveworld Ministries, a.k.a Christ Embassy.His church has an estimated net worth of $70 million. He made $50 million last year alone."
2. Bishop TD Jakes- Net Worth= $150 million
"Bishop Jakes lives in a $1,700,000 mansion, he has been called America's best preacher and has been featured on the cover of TIME magazine. He is a writer, preacher and movie producer. Thomas Dexter "T. D." Jakes, Sr. is the bishop/chief pastor of The Potter's House, a non-denominational American mega church, with 30,000 members, located in Dallas, Texas. T.D Jakes wears custom made suits and sports a diamond ring the size of a coin. This man of God has been endowed with a $150 million net worth."
1. Bishop David Oyedepo- Net Worth= $500 million"Bishop David Oyedepo is a Nigerian Preacher, Christian Author, Founder and Presiding Bishop of Winners Chapel, known as Living Faith Church World Wide. Has been hailed as the wealthiest preacher in Nigeria with a total net worth of $500 million and properties like 4 private jets and homes in the United States and England. His jets alone are worth more than $100 million. After the foundation of the Living Faith Outreach Ministry in 1981, it has evolved to be one of the largest congregations in Africa and has a flourishing mission in Nairobi."
You might be wondering why Pastor E.A Adeboye is not on the list. Well, even though he has been the General Overseer of Redeem Christian Church of God for close to three decades, he is not the founder of the church, but more like an appointed leader. Sort of like how Goodluck Jonathan is ruling Nigeria, but doesn't own the country. The other men on the list started their churches from scratch.
So guys, what's you opinion on the list? To the people who think Pastors shouldn't have this much wealth, I am going to have to disagree with you. You forget that these pastors render a service, and their market is large. They serve tens of millions of people. So, even if they didn't want the riches, the laws of the Universe would still bring it to them. That is just how things work in this world. You can't render a service to such a huge amount of people and not get rich; it is impossible. And for the record, must of them don't even make most of their money from offerings and tithes. It sure is a lot if you take a pull from tens of millions, but people forget that they have to maintain the churches. Most of these pastors make the majority of their money from special gifts they get from people they have helped, and also from their own personal investments. Chris Oyakhilome sells 2 million copies of his 'Rhapsody of Realities' book every month, and it nets him $2 million dollars from that alone; it sells for the equivalent of a dollar. And Oyedepo averages $1 million from the sales of his books worldwide, yearly.
And to those people that think they should give most of their money away in form of charity; that is another wrong misconception of Africans. A mentality to life that has kept the African continent (and the black race) backward. No one owes you anything in this world. You have to work out your own blessings, and that is what Pastors are meant to teach their congregation...to fish, and not to hand them fish. And maybe they can also work on getting the message of living a righteous life across to their flock through different means, and not just via the pulpit, Like how TD Jakes does with movies (Jumping the Brown, Sparkle...); reaching more people via a medium they love, movies. And driving home the teachings in a subtle way...not driving people away with rigid teachings.
I think the only problem I might have with some pastors is that they are not teaching their flock the right lessons/principles. Why do I say that? If they were, then so many of them wouldn't be living in poverty. I guess that is why people complain about some of the possessions of some pastors. People look at Pastors living good lives, and see majority of the congregation living poor lives. It just doesn't look good to the person looking in from outside. As I said earlier, I do not agree with the notion that Pastors should give most of their wealth away to the poor; I just feel they should inspire the poor to become rich. That's why I have always loved my pastor- Pastor S.I Makinwa of Kingdom Light Ministry. He was already rich before he started the church, and still owns all his company and businesses. And he always inspires and teaches on how his congregation can be just as rich as him, or even richer. I guess that is why he is not so popular.
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